


Two Steps Closer

by mira (stellamira)



Category: Actor RPF, Supernatural RPF
Genre: M/M, Step-Sibling Incest, Step-siblings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:48:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28421952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellamira/pseuds/mira
Summary: After three years in the Ecuadorian rainforest with little outside contact, Jensen comes home for Christmas. His stepbrother Jared is not the kid he left anymore...
Relationships: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	Two Steps Closer

“What?” Jensen says as Jared hipchecks him on the way to the sink.

“You’ve been here for seven hours, and you’re already raiding our parents’ beer stash?” There’s the clatter of Jared setting their bowls in the sink and the rush of water from the tap to give them a quick rinse.

“Of course,” Jensen says and finally selects two bottles from the fridge from a brewery he’s never heard of – local, though; they have “Austin” in their logo. He turns and holds one out to Jared, “Want one?” then snatches it back as Jared reaches for it. “Oh, I forgot,” he says with a smirk. “Still not twenty-one, yet.”

“Asshole. ‘s just a couple more months,” Jared mumbles and manages to grab it anyway with his longer reach – Jesus, another new thing to get used to. He twists the cap off and leans back against the counter as he takes a long pull. “Your dad lets me have one on occasion. Says it’s better than getting a fake ID to get stupidly drunk and end up in a ditch somewhere.”

“But you have one, anyway,” Jensen says.

Jared grins. “Learned from the best.” He tips his head back for another swallow, eyes half closed and Adam’s apple working, and Jensen picks at the label on his bottle. So not the time or place. Or person, for that matter. “So, anything else you wanna do tonight?”

Jensen shrugs. Texas is only an hour behind Ecuador this time of year, so there’s not really any jetlag to speak of, but it was still a ten hour flight. “I’m pretty beat, actually,” he admits.

Not to mention all the talking he had to do, all the questions to answer, pictures to show, souvenirs to distribute, only interrupted by dinner. Mac and Megan barely untangled themselves from him long enough so that he could hold a fork. Then more talking after their parents had gone to bed, and later, their sisters as well – reluctantly, but there is still another day of school to go through tomorrow. Which left just him and Jared on the big couch with a second late night helping of chili.

Jared is easy to talk to. Always has been, even when he was six and a shy child clutching his mother’s hand, meeting his new brothers and sister for the first time. An hour later, he babbled everyone’s ears off. Jensen can’t even count the times that Jared used to knock on Jensen’s door, flop onto the old beanbag chair, open his mouth and just spill out words, no matter if Jensen was reading, doing his homework, or had finally gotten Stephen Amell to come over for a “study session”.

For the last three years they had to make do with the occasional call when Jensen came into a village with a communal phone or chatting when Jensen found the time to hitch a ride to the next big town and go to an internet café.

“I guess we should go to bed, then,” Jared says and finishes his bottle, tipping it in Jensen’s direction with a questioning eyebrow-raise. Jensen hands his empty one over and watches Jared put them away, destroy the evidence.

They climb the stairs to their rooms together, Jared taking them two at a time. Long legs to go with the set of long arms. In the bathroom, Jared digs around in the cabinets for a still-wrapped toothbrush – Jensen didn’t bother to bring his own – and throws it into the air for Jensen to catch. They brush their teeth side by side just as they used to, and when Jensen catches Jared’s eyes in the mirror, Jared grins through the froth around his mouth.

Sitting on his bed, Jensen runs his hand over the fresh and soft bedspread, so different from the woolen blanket he has at the reserve. He gave Sherri permission to turn his room into a study for her school things while he was gone, but she refused, cuffing him over the head as she explained that if she’d found space with six children running around, she could definitely make do now.

“Hey, Jensen,” Jared says from the doorway, and for a moment, Jensen sees the kid he left, scuffing his feet in worn sneakers and hiding his hands in his pockets. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Jensen smiles. “G’night, Jared.”

***

He finds Jared and his dad in the kitchen the next morning, chatting over two bowls of cereal. Jared is wearing a black beanie, in the house, and wordlessly pushes over the box as Jensen gets himself a bowl and a cup of the coffee the machine is keeping hot. Jared snorts and his dad chuckles as Jensen closes his eyes in bliss at the first sip. He ignores both of them; he hasn’t had a decent cup of coffee in a long time, even though he’s supposedly sitting right at the source.

Dad leaves for one last day of work before Christmas after a while, Sherri and the girls already off to school. Jared’s phone rumbles on the table, and he picks it up, thumbs the screen. “Steve is having a party tonight. Says I had better drag your sorry ass along.”

Jensen raises an eyebrow. “You fraternizing with my friends now?”

“ _You_ don’t have a phone,” Jared points out. “Besides, you hardly call them, so they have to resort to me to find out whether you’re still alive.”

Jensen kicks him under the table, but Jared’s calf is like a solid tree trunk rooted firmly in the ground and doesn’t budge an inch. He’s always been tall, body growing too quickly for the rest of him to catch up, but now he’s filled out his curves, defined his muscles. His waist is as narrow as Jensen remembers, but his shoulders are broad, the strength in his arms noticeable as he lifted Jensen straight up off the ground at the airport.

“You better pack your hairbrush then, princess, because I’ll be in no state to drive home after tonight,” Jensen says and doesn’t even pretend not to stare as Jared slurps the rest of the milk from his bowl.

***

Jared sits down heavily on the patio steps beside him, holding out a bottle.

Steve, in true Texas fashion, fired up a grill, and it was reasonably warm enough for people to mill around outside for a while. It’s a good crowd, lots of familiar faces. Almost everybody went to the same high school, though not all graduated at the same time, and Jared fits right in. Jensen guesses it shouldn’t be that surprising. Jared has grown into his skin in more ways than one, holding himself with grace and confidence.

Most people have migrated indoors by now, but Jensen needed some fresh air – and not be called “jungle boy” for five fucking minutes. It’s a rainforest reserve! Seriously.

“Thanks,” he says, reaching up to open the bottle on the railing of the steps.

They sit in silence for a bit, taking the occasional drink while Jared shreds the label of his bottle, rolls the strips into little balls and flicks them out into the yard. There’s the soft strumming of guitars from inside; some people are talking a little further away. Danneel and Genevieve are giggling out there in the bushes; Jensen doesn’t even want to know what they’re up to.

“So listen,” Jared says eventually. He pulls the beanie from his head, runs a hand through his hair, and shoves it back on. “’bout before when you left—“ He doesn’t sound too drunk, but certainly in no state to drive home right now, either. “I know I was just a stupid kid—“

“Stop,” Jensen says firmly. He’s never liked it when Jared put himself down; he likes it even less now that it’s clear how much Jared has achieved in the last years. “You were young, but you have never been stupid.” He shifts a bit so he can look at Jared’s profile. Jared’s staring down into his lap. “In fact, you were always too smart for your own good. Mathlete, full ride. Hell, you figured out any problem at home ‘fore the rest of us even realized there was one. And I’m so proud of how you’ve grow up, even if I couldn’t see you do it.” He puts down his beer and tugs Jared’s beanie away to run his own hand through Jared’s hair. “I mean, _this_ is a bit out of control, but give me five minutes with some clippers—“

Jared snorts and shoves him away, but then his hands come down on Jensen’s shoulders, and he pulls him back in, touching their lips together.

Jensen remembers a lanky seventeen-year-old doing this, giddy and nervous in their living room, long after their parents and sisters had gone to bed. Just one week before Jensen left, and Jared was desperate, tried too hard and wanted too much until Jensen gently pushed him away.

This is nothing like that time on the couch. Jared’s kiss is soft, his fingers light on the back of Jensen’s neck, his other hand coming around to brush his jaw. Jensen opens his mouth, and Jared tastes like beer and barbecue, the taste so familiar and _home_ that Jensen licks deeper, angles his body even more into Jared’s chest.

The back door opens, and they jerk apart so suddenly that Jensen hits his head on the wooden railing and winces.

Jason sticks his head outside and looks around until he finds them, nodding at the door. “Get your ass inside, Ackles, we need your angelic voice for backup.”

Jensen glances back at Jared, but Jared is looking away and biting his lip, moment broken for now. He stands and extends a hand to haul Jared up as well. “C’mon, let’s go inside.”

***

“You do realize that I grew up here as well, Padalecki?” Jensen grumbles. They stumbled in about thirty minutes ago, Jensen slept maybe four hours sharing a pull-out couch with five other people – at least his ability to sleep through howler monkeys and endlessly chirping cicadas came in handy – he’s still nursing a slight hangover, and Jared wants to go _sightseeing_. “I doubt much has changed in three years.”

“Al contrario, Señor Ackles. You’ll be _astonished_ by what I will show you. So finish up your coffee, hop into the shower, and then put your good panties on so we can leave.”

“Bossy,” Jensen mumbles and takes his coffee with him to the bathroom.

***

“Do all of the newfangled things you want to show me have to do with food?” Jensen asks a few hours later. They got a bit of a late start since Mackenzie and Megan insisted to come, even if they’re currently walking a couple of feet behind them. They’re closer in age than Jared and Jensen are and basically grew up together with four older brothers, forming a strong sisterly bond.

“Nutrition is important!” Jared claims. So far they’ve had breakfast tacos, been to “the best bakery of the state!” for scones, walked by a sadly closed new gelato shop, and Jared is already talking about lunch.

“He’s still a growing boy.” Mackenzie steps in to pat his stomach while Megan links her arm through Jensen’s.

“We can go to the State Capitol if you like. I’m sure you’ve forgotten what it looks like,” she teases.

“Be glad I haven’t forgotten what _you_ look like.” Jensen tucks her under his armpit and tickles her till she swats at him. He’s only half kidding – he didn’t know how long hair could grow in three years.

After feeding Jared’s bottomless stomach, they end up on a trail along the river, the girls skipping ahead while Jared and Jensen lag behind and come to a stop on a small bridge with a view of the city. Their hands brush as they lean against the railing, and it occurs to Jensen that he could just tangle their fingers and hold on. Their sisters are out of sight; nobody knows them here. They haven’t talked about the kiss – nor done it again – but it’s not the awkward silence from years ago that was only broken once Jensen was more than two thousand miles away.

“How’s your dad?” Jensen asks. “Recovering okay?”

“Good,” Jared says, propping his arms up and watching a couple of ducks swimming toward the bridge. “They released him from rehab a week ago. He keeps joking that he’s part cyborg now, and Meg keeps telling him that one artificial hip joint does not count. He and Laura are driving down before New Year’s to pick up Meg for a couple of days.”

“You’re not going?” Jeff, Jared, and Megan have been spending New Year’s with their dad almost every year for as long as Jensen can remember.

“Nah, I’m staying. Can’t have you fending for your own here, can I?” Jared nudges him. “I can go visit dad anytime.”

They go quiet again, but it’s easy, comfortable. Jensen’s more than willing to wait.


End file.
